You Are What You Hear {and what you say}

KISgraphic4I am originally from the Midwest. I still live there today. But when I visit Charlotte, NC a few times each year to hang out with our daughter who lives there, I pick up a cultural catch phrase.

I start to say “Y’all”.

Here in Michigan, we don’t usually say “Y’all” when talking to someone. Or say “All y’all” when talking to a group—which I’m told is the plural of “y’all”!

We Michiganders say, “You guys” (which incessantly annoys my sweet-tea sippin’ Southern friends. They’ll say, “You guys? What!? We’re all women here. There isn’t a guy in the bunch!”) Yes, when I head south and hang around these ladies, I begin to pick up their lingo.

Just as when I’m exposed to the “Y’all” phrase it begins to tumble out, the same might happen to the improper attitudes and situations to which you are exposed—you might not only begin to think they are normal, they may become part of your thought patterns and maybe even your actions and speech. It can be the same with any words displayed in print or that we hear spoken out loud.  {to keep reading over at For The Family and enter to win one of two copies of my new book Keep It Shut click here}

3 Comments

  1. Just 2 weeks ago, in church, my Pastor spoke of how we need to use our words for building up, not tearing down. I try to evaluate everything I say (and write) more consciously now, rather than just saying it.

  2. How very true. It’s sort of like the adage, you are what you eat. When I was in the military and around primarily men (pilots) throughout my working day, cussing was the norm,u ears were immune to it and it had creeped into my daily jargon. I only realized it when I was at home and my sister pointed out I wasn’t censoring my language being around my young nieces ????

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